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SPEECH 



OF THE 



HON. MR. STOW, 

1 FEDERALIST, WHO OPPOSED JWD VOTED JL- 
GMNST THE WJ1BJ 

IN THE 

[ouseof Representatives of theU. States ; 

'A UARY 14, 1813, 

ntheVill in addition loth, act entitled « An act to raise an ad- 
ditional military force and for other purposes,'* 



Let every man read this, and lend it to his 
neighbor ; and let no one make up his 
mind against his country till he shall have 
pondered well its contents. 



CONCORD, JV. H. 
PRINTED BY I. AND W- R. HILL, 



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MB. SFEJIKEE, 

AM aware of the delicacy, and novelty cf my fiftialibh, as 
well from die indulgence of the houfe, as from the neu- 
tral courfe, which I mean to purfue. He muft have been (ridded 
an inattentive obferver of mankind, who propolis to himfelf 
fuch a courfe, without being expofed to difficulties and dangers 
from every fide. Our country has experienced them too long 
from the gr^at belligerents of Europe, and an individual will 
quickly find them here. For even this house is nouxempt from 
its great party belligerents, who iflue their conflicting decrtes, 
and orders in council; and, in imitation of the hoflile Europe- 
ans, it is fometimes aJufficierit caufe of condemnation, to have 
been fpoken with by the adverfe fide. Yet, notwithflandihg all 
thefe dangers, I mean to launch my neutral bark on this tem- 
pefluous ocean, confcious of the rectitude of my intentions, and 
humbly hoping for the approbation of my country and my God. 
The proper extent of the difcufiion, growing out of this biljf 
feemed to be confined to thefe eriquirjes '• — Can the force con2 
templated be obtained I If obtained, will it accompliih theen' 
propofed ? And laflly, will the force be an economical one 
If the dilcuffion had been confined to thefe limits, I would havi 
liftened, and not have fpoken : hut, fir, it has taken a w ider range 
a»d affumed a more important afpi£t. It has embraced tin 
preftnt, the paft, and the future. The caufes of the war, anc 
the mode of conducting it, have been investigated, and ever 
confident predictions have been made as to its end. The hifto- 
ry, and the ftate of our negociations have been carefully exam- 
ined — and the prefideuial order of fucceffion has been fcrutini- 
zed, by the light of experience, as well as :hat of prophefy. We 
have fometimes been forced into the fcenes of private iife ; and! 
at other times, we have been chained to the car of Napoleon. 
In flfcrt, (ir, the difcufiion has ranged as wide as exiflence, and 
not content with that, the (beakers " have exhaufted worlds, 
and then imagined new.'' I do not pretend to cenfure this — 
it may be well for the people to have their political concerns thus 
fplendidly dreffed, and paffed in review before them. — But Hill, 
I will attempt to call the attention of the houfe from the regions 
of fiction, of fancy, and of poetry, to the humble, but I truftno 
lefs profitable fphere of reality and of profe. Paffing by many of 
thofe things which have amufed by their ingenuity, or furprifed 



by their novelty, but which do not deferve a fcrious anfwer, I 
will encleavpr to (tate diltinctly the grounds taken by the oppo- 
nents oft! : : s bill, or rather the opponents of furnifhing the means 
of profecuting, the wa&: — Firilly. It is alleged " that the war 
w is originally unjuft." Secondly. V That if the war was ori- 
tUyjuft, it has become unjuft lo continue it in confeqijrence 
of the revocation of the Britifh orders in council." Thirdly. 
" That it is inexpedient to profecute the war, becaufe we have 
no means of coercing our enemy, or enforcing our claims." 
Fourthly. " That we are unable to Support the war." And 
ily. " That in conli 1 /ration of all thefe tire urn fiances, the 
mute oiiKjht to witlihold the means of further profecuting the 
war." 

Firftthen it is alledged that the war was originally unjuft. 
Here let me call on the houfe to tliftinguilh betws en unjust, and 
inexpedient. Nothing can be more important, than to have 
clear and ditlinct. ideas about thefe words which ue at the bot- 
tdm of a fcience, or inquiry. This i.^ happily illustrated in ma- 
thematics — there every word, by the help of diagrams, is care- 
fullv defined ; and the conleqm nee is, that there are .^.o 'Jifputes 
among mathematicians, while their labors have done honor to 
mankind. A tiling may be juft, and yet inexpedient : the jus- 
tice o( an act relates to the conduct of another, the expediency 
to our own fituation. It may be jolt tor me to fue the man who 
withholds from me the Gnall* it fum ; and yet fo inexpedient, as 
to be even ridiculous. Thus a war may be perfectly juit, and 
at the dune time highly inexpedient. Tliis, if I miftake not, 
wa.-» the ground generally taken the lift year by the opponents 
of the war. particularly by tlje gentleman from Virginia before 
me, (Mr. Sheffey) who pointed out the diftincYion which 1 have 
endeavored to do, though with more ability and fucc< fs. I hope 
the houf. will bear this diftir.ction in mind ; becaufe it is of the 
greateir. importance in the mVL-ftigation which I intend to make. 
Before I enter further on the argument, I afk the houfe to in- 
dulge me for a moment, while I explain my views relative to the 
commencement of the war. I never law any want of provoca- 
tion on the part of Great Britain. I never for an inftant doubt- 
ed the jufticeofthe war, while I urged its inexpediency with all 
my might. I confidered man, placed here by a beneficent 
Providence, on a fertile foil, and in a happy climate, enlighten- 
ed by fcience, and protected by the wUeft of laws. By our re- 
volution cut adrift, as I may fay, from the old world, before the 
ftorm which was about to defolate Europe arofe — I fortWy hop- 
ed, that this new world would furnifh one fair experiment of 
what fcience, liberty, and peace might achieve, free from thofe 
corruptions which have eternally attended on war. I hoped to 
fee the country improved, and bound together, by roads and 
can \ ! s, to fee'it adorned by literary inftitutions, and by every 
eftabliihment which reflects honor upon man. Nor do, I yet 



4 

believe, that^ this was an Utopian vifion, or an idle dream. I dill 
believe it might all have been realized by a different courfe — 
But the nation has determined on war, and though it was not my! 
choice, I (till maintain that it is not unjuft; 

I will not go into a minute account of all thofe injuries, and 
outrages, the bare mention of which, waslaft year declared sick- 
ening to the foul. I will only recal the moft prominent to thei 
recollection of gentlemen, who feem almoft t© have forgotten 
them. — Firft then, the revival of the rule of '56, relative to the 
colonial trade, which produced ©ne univerfal burft of indignation, 
and called forth thofe unanimous relblutions in the Senate, not 
to endure it. Was that no juft caufe of war ? The numerous 
blockades, againft which all our minifters in England, and every 
adminiftration, have remonftrated — the repeated infults of our 
cities by their fliips of war — the murder of one of our citizens 
in our own waters, ([ mean Pearce) the fhameful trial, and iub- 
fequent promotion, of the officer, by which infult was added to 
to,injury — in all this,do gentlemen fee nothing to render warjuft? 
I pafs by numerous other injuries,& come to the orders in council 
which have fwept millions of American property from the ocean. 
But, fir, we have been told, that France was the aggrefibr — 
that if we had compelled France to do us juftice, Great Britain 
would have followed in due time the example, and thus war 
would have been prevented. What has this to do with the cafe, 
fuppofe it eithef true, or falfe ? What has the juftice of the war 
to do with the order in which we have received the injuries 
from France or England ? Have weH»ot the right to refift the 
one, who injured us laft, as well as the iirft ? Who ever dream- 
ed, that to determine whether it was lawful to repel an injury, 
he muft examine the hiftory of his life, and fee if he had not been 
injured before ? Have we loft the moral fenfe ? or have we been 
fo long aceuftomed to receiving injuries, that we have ceafed to 
know them ; that after a patient endurance of fifteen years, and 
after deliberate ly referring to war, we are gravely about to ex- 
amine the chronology of our wrongs to fee if we have the right 
to refift ? I omit the fubjeft of impreffment ; not but what it 
was one of the juft caules of war, but because I intend to fpeak 
of it in another place. After a candid review of the paft, can 
any perfon then maintain, that America has no just caufe of 
war ? Sir, to my mind it appears irapoflible. 

I fhall now examine the fecond proportion, "that if the war 
was originally juft, its further profecution is unjust.''- — On what 
ground does this reft ? It is this, that the orders in council were 
the caufe of the war, and thofe orders having ceafed, the profe- 
cution of the war becomes unjuft. — Here again justice and ex- 
pediency are confounded. It was never maintained, that the 
orders in council rendered war more juft, than many other out. 
rages, though they went farther to prove its expediency and even 
neceffity. It therefore follows* that their repeal does not affect 



the jufHce of the war ; unlefs accompanied with compenfation 
for the fpoliations committed under them, and atonement made 
for other wrongs, Neither of thefe, it is pretended, has been 
done ; except fo far ss relates to the affair of the Chcfapeake.and 
which I purpolely left out of the catalogue of grievances. An 
injury which was a juft caufe of war, remains a juft caufe for 
its continuance, till atonement is offered, or till it is fettled by 
negociation. But fir, an ample ji^tification of war remains in 
the impreifment of our iVamen. The claim on our part is not, 
as has been alledged, a claim to protect Britiih feamen— it is a 
claim to propecl American citizens. Nay more, as refpecls the 
juftice oi the continuance of the war, it is a claim only, that 
they ivill cease Jrotn *he practice during the truce, that it may 
be seen whether it is possible to arrange it by ncgocation. Is it 
Unjuftco continue the war. till this demand is complied with? 
or does any American wifh to fee his country proftrated Itiil 
lower ? 

H;i\ing thus far explained my ideas relative to' the justice of the com- 
mencement, and continuance of the war, I will now proceed to answer the 
third objection, namely : That it is inexpedient to carry it on, because wc 
have no means of coercing our enemy— of compelling him — to what ? bare- 
ly to a just and honorable peace ; for that is all that we demand. And 
have we no means of doing this ? Better then to surrender the charter of our 
independence ; confess we are incapable of self-protection, and beg his most 
gracious majesty to again take us under his paternal care. Such a doctrine, 
sir, is as unfounded, as it is degrading to the American character. We have 
ample means of compelling Great-Britain to do us justice ; they are to be 
found in the value of our commerce ; in the enterprise of our privateers ; 
in the gallantry of our ships of war, and in the conquest of her provinces. 
Our custom (considering her in the light of a merchant or mechanic who 
supplies) is of vital importance tt> Great-Britain. It is not to be measured 
by its amount, in pounds, shillings and pence, but by the strength and sup- 
port she derives from the intercourse. For while 1 admit, that Great-Brit- 
ain does not send half her exports to the United States, I do maintain that 
the custom of this country is of more importance to her, than that of the 
whole world beside. It is with a nation as with an individual — if lie ex- 
change luxuries for luxuries, or superfluities, such as ribbons for ribbons, 
which he consumes, he adds nothing to his wealth ; but if he-exchange hi- 
luxuries, or his ribbons, for bread, or for such materials as give scope to his 
industry, he is then benefited and enriched by the interchange. Such is the 
situation of Great-Britain with regard to America. She, and her depen- 
dencies, receive more of provisions, and raw materials, from America, than 
for all other parts of the world together. Our trade exactly gives effect to 
her industry, her machinery, and her capital. And it is this, which has, in 
a great degree, enabled her to make sue)', gigantic efforts in the awful con- 
test in which she is engaged. Our privateers, will they have noidfecton 
Great Britain ? YVill she learn nothing from the less of three or rour hun- 
dred ships ? And will she be insensible to the efforts cf our little navy ■ 
Can they touch no nerve in which Britons feel ? Far different are my con- 
clusions, from what I have seen in British papers — they show, that she is 
tremblingly alive to that subject. 

Sir, I will now consider her provinces, about which so much has been said. 
I too will speak cf that wonderful country called Canada, which unites in 
itse.. all contrary I ' Which is so cold and sterile, as to be not worth pos* 
sessing ; an ' hat if, by any calamity it should become ours, it 



' would seduce away our population — Which is so unhafi/iy under the British 
government, as not to lure our inhabitants; yet so rjfifuj, that it is criminal 
to disturb their felicity — Whose inhabitants, if united with burs, would de- 
stroy us, because they have none of the habits of freemen ; and who, well 
knowing the privileges o£ taeif'/rfce gavern^ient r will defend them t> the 
last. A country which is of no im/iortance to Great-Britain, and whose loss 
would not make her feel — a country which is so valuable to Great-Britain, 
that the will never give it up. A country so weak, that it is inglorious to 
attack it ; and a country so strong, that we can never take it. But, sir, 
leaving these, and a thousand other contradictions, the work of fancy or of 
spleen, I will present to the House, what I believe to be a true view of the 
subject, drawn from a near residence, and much careful examination. Can- 
ada is of great importance both to Great-Britain and the United States. It 
is important to Great-Britain in the amount and kind of its exports. In the 
last year preceding war its exports amounted to between seven and nine 
millions of dollars, an amount almost as great as the exports of the Unit* 1 
States preceding the revolutionary war. And had the most discerning states- 
man made out an order, he could not have selected, articles better adapted 
to the essential wants of Grea^Biitain. It has been said that Canada is of 
less value than one of the sugar islands of the West-Indies. Sir, in the 
present state of the world, Canada is of more importance to Great-Britain, 
in my opinion, than the whole West-India islands taken together. In danger, 
as she is is, of being shut out from the Baltic, and fighting for her exist- 
ence, she wants not the luxuries, the sugars and the sweetmeats ot the West 
Indies — she wants the provisions, the timber and the masts of tne North. 

Canada is also of the greatest importance to the United States, in a com- 
mercial, financial and political point of view. I have in a great measure 
explained its commercial importance already by stating its exports ; a large 
portion of which were the products of the United States. Let an attentive 
observer cast his eye for one moment on the map of North America ; let 
him bear in mind, that from the 45th degree of latitude the waters of Can- 
ada bound for a vast extent one of the most fertile, and which will become 
one of the most populous parts of the United States ; and he will readily 
perceive, that the river St. Lawrence must soon be the outlet for one third 
of all the products of American labor. 'the same circumstances will ena- 
ble us to lay an impost on one third of our imported articles. Nor will the 
evil to our revenue end here. Great-Britain will be enabled to smuggle her 
goods through this channel into all parts of the Union. It will be in vain 
that you attempt to counteract her by laws ; from the great length and con- 
tiguity of her possessions, she will forever evade them*» unless b) your laws 
you can change the nature of man. Bat its greatest importance is in a po- 
litical point of view: for although not as happy in its government as the U- 
nited States, it is sufficiently so to draw off multitudes of our new settlers, 
when the intermediate lands' of the State of New-York, which separate it 
from New-England, shall be fully occupied. From this circumstance it will 
divide the American family, and by the commercial relations, winch I have 
pointed out, it will exert a dangerous influence over a part of our country ; 
for the transition from commercial dependence to political allegiance is too 
obvious to be insisted on. Having endeavored to shew the importance of 
Canada to both of the contending nations, I Will only add that it is rjilhin 
our fiower. 

The fourth objection is, that we cannot support the war — that we have 
not the ability to carry it on. Before I proceed to answer this objection,- per- 
mit me, sir, to notice a singular inconsistency of the gentlemen by wii-un it 
has been urged. It is this — in one part of their argument, they represent 
the people as too ha/i/iy to enlist, and in another part, as too poor to pay 
Both of these propositions, I presume, cannot be true. Not to dwell longer 
however upon this contradiction, I do maintain, sir, that the nation is fuliy 
able to prosecute the war. On w hat does the ability of a nation depend ? 



A person who will give himself the trouble of examining things, rathe* than 
wor portioned to theftumbtr of laborers, and the 

Mess of their lab r. Wherever from soil, climate, or improve- 
ment, the labor of wEU produce more than a supply of the neces- 
life, it is evident, til • the surplus time may be devoted to idleness, 
{0 t i ;, of luxuries, or to the carrying on of war. 
irther-r-s ippose the labor of a person live days will sup- 
16 clear, that the labor of five men will support the 
sixth man, in idlen* Now, sir, there is no where that the labor 
of seven iriul'i pie will produce so much, as in this country J coh- 
$ |U en: , nd where have seven millions of people so great an ability to 
carry Ww»r. The quantity of circulating medium, whether made of pa- 
pev ; ,- , f si] er doll er) little to do with the subject. Jf it is 'made 
great extent lit onlyj^ws that the fieofite aft in their 
^ . ■ that the faith qf^mtnacts is well stljifiorted. The 
4 ~"\ of a nation lies in what I have stated ; and he must be a weak 
politic ift call it forth. 

MrSp^ k • 1 will now consider the last, and by far the most important 
objection of all; and One, without which, I certainly would not have spok- 
en. It 13, that in a tion of all the chxumstances in which we are 
is the dut; ; louse to withhold the means of further prose- 
cuting the war. It will not be denied, I trust, that this is a fair statement 
of the scope and object of most of the reasonings, which have been employ- 
ed ; ancl that, without this construction, they would be irreconcilable with 
cottim (risen e. This doctrine, in my opinion, goes, not only to the over- 
throw of our constitution, but to the destruction of liberty itself. The prin- 
ciple of our government is, riot only that the majority shall rule, but that 
they shall rule in the manner prescribed by the constitution. So that if it 
could In- proved, that a majority of the people were in favor of certain meas- 
ures, it wonn tlic'ieut, 'till they had pronounced that decision thro* 
the ional organs. In short, 'it must have been a principal object 
with the Trainers of our constitution to suspend, at least for a limited time, 
the effects of popular opinion. The constitution has committed the legis- 
lator power to three co-^uul branches ; and to the same hands has it in- 
trusted the power of declaring war ; while it has expressly confided the 
t\ -making power (and which alone can make peace) to two only of those 
branches. The claim now set up, goes to invest that branch, which has no 
authcritv in the matter, not only with the treaty making power, but also 
with a complete control over the two branches. Thus one branch oi the 
government forcing the nation to desist from doing what three, including it- 
self, had thought best to perform. Let us test the correctness of this prin- 
ciple bv apph ir.g it to another co-equal branch of the government. Let 
us suppose the President has made a treaty of peace, which is disapproved 
by the Senate — and suppose upon this he should say, the war ought not fur- 
ther to be prosecuted, and refuse to employ the public force, would you not 
impeach him ? Most unquestionably you would. I expressly admit.that cas- 
es may be imagined, where such a course would be proper — where it would 
be not onlv the duty of this house to withhold supplies, but where it would 
be the duty of an individual to resist the laws ; but such are extreme cases, 
not provided for by any organization of government. What, sir, has been 
the practice of the British House of Commons ? Have they ever refused 
supplies, because a war was unpopular, since the revolution ? Did not the 
same parliament, which resolved, that they would consider any man as an 
enemy of his country, who should advise his majesty to the further prosecu- 
tion of offensive war in America, still vote the means for carrying on the 
war? A similar case occurred when Mr. Fox came last into power — he dis- 
approved of the commencement, and conduct of the war, and yet he call- 
ed for and received the necessary supplies. Let us examine our own histo- 
ry : In the case of the British treatv, the House, by a call for papers, at- 



tempted to superintend the treaty-making power, before it would make the 
necessary appropriations. The encroachment was instantly resisted by the 
great man, who then presided ever the government ; and his decision was 
approved by the nation. Is not the duty of furnishing the necessary supplies 
stronger, now we are engaged in war ? And that too, declared by all the 
branches of the government ! Sir, these temporary sacrifices of our own 
wishes to the constitutional decisions of our government, are the price we 
pay for liberty, and all that is dear to us. Once withheld, anarchy and ty- 
ranny ensue ! I am one who ardently longs for peace. I see in it, hot only 
the present prosy Ft! ' 1 :wg train of republican virtues ; 

and I would sprin ccasion. But much as I de- 

sire it, I Would not V. enemy of my country, or 

by the smallest vio, tk)i on. 

Much, sir, has bt \ t French tsh influence. There is nc 

such thing in this R» > by British influence 1 

meant, what has be d< ice ~f her excellerr^W, 

from her language ai> lone honor to mank[ au <wr 

is there, that feels in his own or British iafluerAL!^ ^ 

where is the man, v respectable fellow citize 

feelings which in himself he .. ?uld or ? No, sir, the evil is of anotl . 
kind ; it is party ! it is the magic of names, by which men of equal intelli- 
gence, who have the same ties to society, and the same interest in the v 
fare of their country, are torn asunder. We take our sides like boys fc a 
game ; and, in the ardor of competition too often forget our country ! Ii 
great contest which Is now going on in the world we are all of one si 
Our country is the stake, and the last republic on which the sun sh 
Here man, enlightened and free, is placed as it were, in a second garden ; 
the fruit of life is union, and near it grows the fruit of disunion and death. 
The attempt to divide us must have been originated in Pandemonium by 
the great enemy of mankind ; and his first effort must have been, to insti- 
gate us to call each other by opprobrious names. Should he at last succeed 
in producing our downfall, and the expulsion of republicanism from Amer- 
ica, " Earth" would once more " tremble from her entrails as again in pangs, 
and nature give a second groan." But, sir, I will not indulge the melancho- 
ly idea : I will not anticipate a time when this splendid hall shall crumble 
into fragments, and this fair republic, reared by the immortal Washmgtons, 
Franklins and Clintons of our country, shall itself become a more deplora- 
ble, a more melancholy ruin ! I will hope that there is a redeemiug spirit 
in the land, and that a guardian Providence will still watch over the des- 
tinies of our infant country. 













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